Professional player Tyson “Tenz” Ngo has ended his career in Valorant, where he earned $218,150 in prize money. Now the 23-year-old explains what he thinks of Deadlock, the new MOBA shooter on Steam. According to him, the game is too complicated for casual gamers to comfortably consume as an eSports title.
Deadlock is a complex game, borrowing elements from MOBA. Some call it a MOBA shooter, but MeinMMO expert Dariusz Müller even questions that.
MOBAs are among the biggest eSports titles in the world, along with LoL and DOTA 2. It raises the question of whether Deadlock is suitable for eSports as well.
This is what TenZ says: According to Tenz, Deadlock is a cool game that is fun to play, but it is not an optimal title for eSports:
The game has certain aspects that make it too confusing for casual or even beginner players who will not understand it.
MOBAs are already difficult for many people to understand, but this game is definitely a step forward. Because it’s a MOBA, but a third-person shooter, and it has an additional lane and an additional player.
Valve would need to invest a lot in the presentation of Deadlock
What could help? According to Tenz, Deadlock needs to improve the “viewer experience” so that spectators understand what is truly important.
As ObsSojourn, a pro from Overwatch 2, notes (via x), the casters are important for the success of Deadlock. One needs an outstanding casting team with great game understanding to sell Deadlock in a way that players can “digest” it.
Is eSports even a topic? Yes, because the eSports cycle is already starting for Deadlock, even though the game has not officially been released yet.
On October 4, there will be the first tournament with a prize pool of $10,000.
In other games, it has been observed that teams decide to declare a game that is currently hyped as an eSports title, even though the developers themselves may not have thought about it and perhaps did not intend it.
For example, in 2017, an eSports scene had formed around the shooter Fortnite, which was neither desired nor intended by Epic Games. This caused prolonged conflicts between casual players who wanted fun and variety, and professionals who sought stability and fair conditions. In the end, there was even a World Championship in 2019 with a lot of money in Fortnite, but it may have been manipulated: The World Championship in Fortnite made teenagers millionaires: However, in retrospect, it was a mistake
